LA Housing Supply: Shrinking Solutions

The economic law of supply and demand is simple enough, but Los Angeles is defying it again by tightening its rent control law in the name of housing affordability. The result will be fewer apartments and less affordable housing.

The city currently restricts rent increases in properties built before 1978 to the consumer-price index (CPI) with an annual ceiling of 8%. These rent caps apply to about three quarters of the city’s multifamily housing units.